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rachelramirez

Political Crisis Looms in Nicaragua in Run-Up to Elections | Inter Press Service - 0 views

www.ipsnews.net/...caragua-in-run-up-to-elections

Nicaragua elections

shared by rachelramirez on 26 Jun 16 - No Cached
  • Political Crisis Looms in Nicaragua in Run-Up to Elections
  • The seventh consecutive nomination of Daniel Ortega as the governing party’s candidate to the presidency in Nicaragua, and the withdrawal from the race of a large part of the opposition, alleging lack of guarantees for genuine elections, has brought about the country’s worst political crisis since the end of the civil war in 1990.
  • If he wins his term of office will be extended to 2021, by which time he will have served a record breaking 19 years, longer even than that of former dictator Anastasio Somoza García whoruled the country for over 16 years.
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  • The CSJ determined in 2011 that an article in the constitution banning indefinite reelection was a violation of Ortega’s right to be a candidate
  • Earlier the Supreme Electoral Council (CSE) cancelled the legal status of the leadership of the Independent Liberation Party (PLI), the largest member of the Coalition, and handed over PLI representation instead to a political faction supportive of the FSLN.
  • Social scientist Nicolás López Maltez, a member of Nicaragua’s Academy of Geography and History, said that the way Ortega has pursued his presidential aspirations is unparalleled in Central America in the past 150 years.
  • According to López Maltez and other analysts, Ortega has taken control of all government branches, and is therefore practically assured of victory at the ballot boxes in November.
  • Ortega has followed sound macroeconomic policies and this is recognised by both domestic and international organisations.
  • Opposition sectors claim the results of municipal elections in 2008 and of the 2011 general elections were fraudulent. Observers from the U.S. Carter Center and from the European Union observers/ said they lacked transparency.
  • But in May Ortega decided not to invite international or local electoral observers, whom he referred to as “shameless scoundrels.”
  • Humberto Meza, who holds a doctorate in social sciences, said that Ortega’s stratagems to perpetuate himself in power “will drastically affect the legitimacy of the elections,” no matter how high his popularity rating.The Supreme Court “is condemning a vast number of voters to non participation in the electoral process,” he told IPS.
  • Meza said the concern expressed by the OAS secretary general and any pressure exerted by the international community, led by the United States, were unlikely to have “much impact” on Nicaragua’s  domestic crisis
  • rachelramirez on 26 Jun 16
     
    This article sheds light on the chaotic nature of elections in Nicaragua, and shows the vast amount of control the current president, Daniel Ortega, holds. In the past the United States and the European Union have monitored elections in Nicaragua, but were left saying that the elections lacked transparency. The elections for president this year will not involve the US or EU as the current president, and one of the few candidates in the race, will not allow the two powers back to monitor elections. If Daniel Ortega wins this election, and it appears that he most likely will, then he will be longest serving president Nicaragua has ever had. It appears that there needs to be greater action taken to assure the transparency of elections in the future, and help for Nicaraguans so they can be sure they have a fair government.
runlai_jiang

OAS mission issues preliminary statement on the general elections in Antigua-Barbuda | ... - 0 views

www.caribbeannewsnow.com/-in-Antigua-Barbuda-21569.html

shared by runlai_jiang on 02 Nov 16 - No Cached
  • OAS mission issues preliminary statement on the general elections in Antigua-Barbuda
  • electoral observation mission issued the following preliminary statement on the general elections In Antigua and Barbuda:
  • n Antigua and Barbuda congratulates the people of Antigua and Barbuda for their extraordinary commitment to the electoral process, reflected in a high voter turnout and a peaceful exercise of their franchise during the Election Day.
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  • recognizes the efforts made by both the Antigua and Barbuda Electoral Commission and the Supervisor of Elections in the preparation of this election, enabling them to overcome several of the problems experienced in 2009.
  • collaborating to ensure a peaceful voting process.
  • runlai_jiang on 02 Nov 16
     
    On the June 12th, 2014, the OAS issued a electoral observation mission to supervise and reflect the voter turnout on the Election Day. A team of 16 members went to observe on the Election Day. Security was present to ensure a peaceful voting process. The team's purpose was to supervise the Election and enabling them to prevent the problems experienced in 2009. Finally, the election was very successful and smoothly. Women and all the people had the chance to vote. 
jackhanson1

In Nicaragua, a Blatantly Rigged Election - The New York Times - 0 views

www.nytimes.com/...blatantly-rigged-election.html

shared by jackhanson1 on 04 Nov 16 - No Cached
  • On Jan. 10, 1978, my father was assassinated by hit men of the Somoza regime. His death meant the end of whatever remained of Nicaragua’s political arena. But it also unleashed an enormous wave of protests nationwide, because the country now saw rebellion as the only way left to end the dictatorship.Four decades later, we have gone through a tortuous cycle of revolution and counterrevolution, civil war and foreign aggression, democratic transition and, now, a return to authoritarianism. History is repeating itself as farce under the regime of Daniel Ortega, the former guerrilla leader who was the elected president from 1985 to 1990 and who returned to power in 2007.
  • Ironically, when the Sandinista revolution’s leaders were voted out of power in 1990 (allowing my mother, Violeta Chamorro, to become Nicaragua’s president for seven years), it was Mr. Ortega himself who contributed to the establishment of an electoral democracy by conceding defeat, thereby setting the country on course to transfer power peacefully among political parties. However, Mr. Ortega and the next president, Arnoldo Alemán, who later was accused of corruption, arrived at a political compact in 1999 that weakened the trend toward pluralistic democracy by setting up bipartisan control of the electoral system. In 2007, that, too, collapsed when Mr. Ortega, now back in office, took sole control.
  • In 2008, well-documented fraud marred municipal elections. And in 2011, Mr. Ortega, defying term limits law, was “re-elected” in balloting that was denounced as unconstitutional. He has used the time since to consolidate an institutional dictatorship that concentrates absolute power and that derives political support from an alliance with private business interests and from citizens who benefit from government policies that aid the poor.
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  • Once again, Nicaragua finds itself in a nefarious cycle in which advocates of change must depend on external pressure to compensate for an inability of the country to find domestic solutions to its problems of governance. The only piece of good news seems to be that Mr. Ortega’s apparent strength rises from clay feet. As Somoza’s experience demonstrated, in a one-person regime that aspires to be a one-family dictatorship, the inevitable corruption and repression that it cultivates eventually make the regime unsustainable.
  • jackhanson1 on 04 Nov 16
     
    This article relates to my topic because this article talks about the rigged elections in Nicaragua. Daniel Ortega is back up for election this year, and if he is elected, Nicaragua will undergo more strife and hardship. Also, if Ortega is elected, he will continue to neglect the needs of the indigenous people, refusing to negotiate with them.
runlai_jiang

Editorial: Voters save democracy in Antigua and Barbuda | Caribbean News Now - 0 views

www.caribbeannewsnow.com/Antigua-and-Barbuda-21575.html

shared by runlai_jiang on 02 Nov 16 - No Cached
  • in spite of the eventual margin of victory, the result was always in doubt because of persistent allegations of widespread vote buying and other electoral manipulation by the now former government.
  • Whatever the truth or otherwise to the several allegations of attempted election fraud,
  • it was reported locally that the questionable activities more or less ceased as soon as the observers arrived in the country just a few days before the election itself
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  • the question has to be asked whether the observation missions mounted by three organisations: the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), the Commonwealth and the Organisation of American States (OAS), are capable of making any real difference to this kind of situation in Antigua and Barbuda or any other country.
  • CARICOM issued a 400-word statement that was essentially devoid of any meaningful observations or recommendations – or indeed anything worth publishing.
  • do these electoral observation missions have any real teeth or are they just for the purpose of paying lip service to the concept of free and fair elections?
  • runlai_jiang on 02 Nov 16
     
    The OAS observation missions to 2014 Antiguan election is in doubt because evidence shows that vote buying and electoral manipulation by the government still exists. Doubt in the capability of OAS organization took place. Reports show that many illegal election actions disappeared only during the election when the observers came. Also, the observers did not report any meaningful observations after the mission. The OAS organization and other organizations have not responded any of the editors' recommedations. It let people doubt if the OAS is just doing some programs for the concept but not the real actions.
horowitzza

Nicaragua suppresses opposition to ensure one-party election, critics say | World news ... - 0 views

www.theguardian.com/...l-ortega-presidential-election

nicaragua opposition election critics world news the guardian

shared by horowitzza on 30 Oct 16 - No Cached
  • A Nicaraguan government crackdown on free speech, opposition parties and foreign diplomats has been condemned as an attack on civil liberties to bolster one-party rule.
  • “any attempt to create conditions for the implementation of a single-party regime in which ideological diversity and political parties disappeared is harmful to the country”.
  • social programmes such as improved access to schools have helped maintain his popularity, but human rights groups have condemned the gradual concentration of power, and weakening of institutions.
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  • Ortega recently announced that international observers would not be invited to monitor the forthcoming elections.
  • “It seems like this is not the first case of intimidation against foreign researchers and investigators in Nicaragua. I am shocked by the experience”, said Rios, adding that the country’s press was also coming under pressure.
  • “Right now, we don’t have the conditions for free, transparent and competitive elections. We are not withdrawing from the elections, Mr Ortega is doing everything he can to expel the Coalition
  • But the opposition, like in Venezuela, is weak, according to Christine Wade, associate professor of political science and international studies at Washington College.
  • “The recent events look bad in an election season, but the opposition are poorly organised, bereft of ideas and spend too much time fighting amongst themselves.
runlai_jiang

OAS probes Antigua's voting problems - News - JamaicaObserver.com - 1 views

www.jamaicaobserver.com/...obes-Antigua-s-voting-problems

shared by runlai_jiang on 03 Nov 16 - No Cached
  • 10 per cent of the polling stations in mainland Antigua were unprepared to facilitate voting before noon, six hours late.
  • Yesterday was a day of shame for Antigua and Barbuda. Never in our history of free and fair elections has there been this disgraceful experience of polling stations which should legally be opened from 6:00 am until 6:00 pm, failed to do so for at least four hours and in some cases for six hours.
  • said that the problems associated with the failure for timely opening of polling stations was "most regrettable, and quite irregular for elections in Antigua and Barbuda".
  • runlai_jiang on 03 Nov 16
     
    During the 2009 Antiguan Election, the OAS observers report that 10 percent of the polling stations in mainland Antigua were about six hours late to facilitate voting before noon.The head of the OAS observer mission, Ambassador Albert Ramdin sid the failure of being on time was "most regrettable, and very irregular for elections in Antigua". The good thing about the election was that it took place peacefully and orderly. 
bennetttony

How Ortega Took the Suspense Out of Nicaragua's Presidential Election - 0 views

www.worldpoliticsreview.com/...aragua-s-presidential-election

nicaragua

shared by bennetttony on 04 Nov 16 - No Cached
  • And we can already predict with absolute certainty that Daniel Ortega will be elected president. Again.
  • Since coming to power, the former Marxist rebel’s ideology has taken an idiosyncratic twist, blending elements of capitalism, populism, new age spirituality and, above all, the tendencies of an autocrat whose paramount objective is to remain in power
  • Next week’s election will mark the seventh time he runs for president, after having ruled the country from 1979 to 1985 as head of the junta.
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  • The last time Ortega won, in 2011, the election results were vehemently rejected by the opposition, which declared that Ortega had become a dictator. The Carter Center said the elections lacked “the most basic guarantees for the integrity of the voting process.”
  • The decision to put her on the ticket formalizes what has already been a high-profile role for the first lady. She is the official government spokesperson, and as such the only government figure authorized to speak to the media. But her influence goes far beyond that.
  • Murillo plays a pivotal role in strengthening the Ortegas’ standing with women, which suffered enormously after he was accused in 1998 by his stepdaughter, Zoilamerica Narvaez, of sexually abusing her for many years, starting when she was a young girl.
  • Nicaraguans believe that Ortega, who is 70 years old and reportedly having health problems, is working to secure his family’s hold on power when he is ready to relinquish the rudder.
  • bennetttony on 04 Nov 16
     
    This article outlines how presidential candidate Ortega is taking advantage of the government in Nicaragua and how he plans on using it for his own benefit.
Javier E

Tabaré Vázquez Reclaims Presidency in Uruguay Election - NYTimes.com - 0 views

www.nytimes.com/...dency-in-uruguay-election.html

uruguay election presidency politics economy latin america drug legalization

shared by Javier E on 05 Dec 14 - No Cached
  • Uruguayan voters elected Tabaré Vázquez as president on Sunday in a show of support for the leftist coalition that has governed the country over the last decade, presiding over robust economic growth and a pioneering set of socially liberal laws, including a state-controlled marijuana market.
  • The election came after a stretch in which Uruguay’s president, José Mujica, 79, a former guerrilla, raised the country’s profile with legislation that legalized abortion and same-sex marriage and created the marijuana market. He is set to leave office with high approval ratings.
  • Dr. Vázquez is more moderate than Mr. Mujica, having vetoed an abortion law during his first term as president. He has also expressed opposition to parts of the marijuana law, a position shared by many Uruguayans as broad skepticism persists over the project. Still, he has said that he would enforce the law.
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  • A more important issue for many Uruguayans involved the handling of economic policy by the Broad Front, a coalition of left-wing parties, with Uruguay registering average growth of nearly 6 percent a year during the last nine years. Even as growth slowed this year, cautious economic policies were seen as shielding the country from external shocks.
  • “Practically 70 percent of Uruguayans hold a positive or very positive view of the economic situation in the country,”
  • during his first term, Dr. Vázquez also governed with his own style, reserving one morning each week to continue practicing medicine.
  • An increase in violent crime also weighed on voters, and Mr. Lacalle Pou, the conservative challenger and son of a former president, ran on a platform seeking to crack down on crime, reduce inflation and improve Uruguay’s schools.
mikecoons

Antigua and Barbuda | Country report | Freedom in the World | 2013 - 0 views

freedomhouse.org/...antigua-and-barbuda

Democracy Freedom Antigua and Barbuda

shared by mikecoons on 28 Aug 16 - No Cached
  • The government of Antigua and Barbuda took steps in 2012 to reform the country’s financial regulatory environment in the aftermath of the discovery of a $7 billion dollar Ponzi scheme, which had exposed deep ties between foreign businesses and the government
  • Antigua and Barbuda, a member of the Commonwealth, gained its independence from Britain in 1981.
  • In the 2004 elections, the opposition United Progressive Party (UPP), led by Baldwin Spencer, defeated Prime Minister Lester Bird and the ruling Antigua Labour Party (ALP), ending the Bird political dynasty that had governed the country since 1976.
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  • Fallout from the collapse of the Stanford Financial Group’s companies, which had been one of the main providers of jobs in the country, as well as the global economic downturn and the consequent decline in tourism, continued to impact Antigua and Barbuda’s economy in 2012.
  • Antigua and Barbuda is an electoral democracy. The 1981 constitution establishes a parliamentary system, with a governor general representing the British monarch as ceremonial head of state.
  • Parliament is composed of the 17-seat House of Representatives (16 seats for Antigua, 1 for Barbuda), to which members are elected for five-year terms, and an appointed 17-seat Senate.
  • Women hold only 10 percent of the elected seats of the House of Representatives. Male and female same-sex sexual activity also remains criminalized under a 1995 law, and there have been cases of excessive force and discrimination of people based on sexual orientation at the hands of the police. Antigua and Barbuda serves as both a destination and transit country for the trafficking of men, women, and children for the purposes of forced labor and prostitution.
  • The government owns one of three radio stations and the public television station. There are no restrictions on access to the internet.
  • The government generally respects religious and academic freedoms.
  • Crime continues to be a problem in Antigua and Barbuda, and the government has responded with increased community policing, the reintroduction of roadblocks, and stiffer fines for firearms violations. The United Nations Development Programme’s 2012 Caribbean Human Development Report reported that Antigua and Barbuda suffers from a high rate of property crimes, such as robberies, with a lower violent crime rate. The country’s prison is overcrowded and conditions are very poor.
  • The 2005 Equal Opportunity Act bars discrimination on the basis of race, gender, class, political affinity, or place of origin. However, societal discrimination and violence against women remain problems.
  • Antigua and Barbuda generally respects freedom of the press. However, defamation remains a criminal offense punishable by up to three years in prison, and politicians often file libel suits against opposing party members.
  • Antigua and Barbuda’s political rights rating improved from 3 to 2 due to a decline in corrupt foreign business influence over the government.
  • lenaurick on 28 Aug 16
     
    This article is a general description of the issues faced by Antigua and Barbuda, particularly political issues. This article also talks about the 7 billion dollar Ponzi scheme from 2012 that showed how foreign business and Antigua's government interacted. This article also talked about the elections, and in my opinion the government and its elections seemed fair. This article was helpful to my study of Antigua and Barbuda because it give me an overview of the countries government, and economy.
  • mikecoons on 18 Oct 16
     
    Political ratings have gone down in A&B.
horowitzza

Revolutionary Drift: Power and Pragmatism in Ortega's Nicaragua - 0 views

www.worldpoliticsreview.com/...agmatism-in-ortega-s-nicaragua

revolutionary drift power pragmatism nicaragua

shared by horowitzza on 02 Nov 16 - No Cached
  • Thirty-six years after the 1979 revolution that overthrew the entrenched Somoza dynasty, Nicaraguans still fill Plaza La Fe in Managua to celebrate Liberation Day festivities every July 19
  • supporters of the Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN) and President Daniel Ortega view the revolution as an ongoing process
  • The conditions for his return to power in 2007 were created by a pact he struck in 1999 with then-President Arnoldo Aleman of the Constitutionalist Liberal Party (PLC).
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  • After being elected by only 38 percent of voters to a term that many expected to end in economic disaster, he was re-elected with more than 62 percent of the vote in 2011.
  • He owes his popularity to the success of popular social programs and improvements to the economy
  • his political opponents and some outside observers are highly critical of Ortega and the FSLN’s domination of Nicaragua’s political institutions.
  • corruption allegations in the 2008 municipal elections resulted in the loss of U.S. and European aid.
  • Opponents liken Ortega to Anastasio Somoza, calling him a corrupt dictator.
  • The resulting political imbalance has left the opposition with virtually no leverage in the legislature with regard to either policy or appointments.
  • Many presume that either Ortega will run for—and win—a fourth term, or that he will be succeeded by his wife, Rosario Murillo, or their son Laureano.
  • All of this has made for a particularly polarized political environment, much of it revolving around Ortega himsel
bennetttony

Nicaraguan presidential and legislative election expected to deliver more of the same -... - 1 views

newsahead.com/ed-to-deliver-more-of-the-same

shared by bennetttony on 04 Nov 16 - No Cached
  • President Daniel Ortega can expect the country's presidential and legislative election to give him a third consecutive 5-year term as he enjoys broad support and appears to have secured the other avenues to victory.
  • First Lady Rosario Murillo already has a prominent role in the government. The BBC reports that she is widely seen as sharing power with her husband, and critics accuse the first couple of running Nicaragua like a personal fiefdom.
  • August showed that 65 per cent of those surveyed planned to vote for Ortega's FSLN, compared with just 13 per cent for the opposition.
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  • He is widely criticized for constitutional changes in 2014 that repealed term limits, a change that allows him to run in November.
  • bennetttony on 04 Nov 16
     
    This article highlights both Ortega's accomplishments as a politician, as well as his shortcomings (like how he changed the rules so that he could run again).
runlai_jiang

DEATH TO DEMOCRACY | Antigua Observer Newspaper - 0 views

antiguaobserver.com/death-to-democracy

democracy politics

shared by runlai_jiang on 04 Nov 16 - No Cached
  • Keeping the status quo on campaign financing is “the death of democracy.”
  • He is calling for a ban on private funding for political campaigns.
  • Samuel said there should be stringent laws that severely punish politicians through penalties and fines for using private funding for political campaign.
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  • “What they fail to realise is that they have no power, all the power is in the hands of those who make giant contributions.”
  • The head of the Electoral Commission said political campaigns should be paid for by the public purse, and that political organisations should find other ways to fund their campaigns
  • I believe a percentage of the budget should be allocated to the body that is responsible for election, ABEC, and that they will be charged with coming up with a formula to hand out donation to political parties for them to run their campaigns, and that private financing be totally banned,”
  • runlai_jiang on 04 Nov 16
     
    The Chairman of the Antigua and Barbuda Electoral Commission pointed out that private funding to political campaign groups is a risk toward democracy. The power is hold by the giant private contributors instead of the public. Thus, the funding should be paid by the public purse. He believes that a percentage of the budget should be allocated to the responsible election body and the money should be allocated in a formula, but the private financing should be banned.
lenaurick

2010 Human Rights Reports: Antigua and Barbuda - 0 views

www.state.gov/...154490.htm

human human rights politics latin america foreign policy economy

shared by lenaurick on 28 Aug 16 - No Cached
  • Antigua and Barbuda is a multiparty, parliamentary democracy with a population of approximately 100,000.
  • There were human rights problems in some areas, including excessive use of force by police, poor prison conditions, some limits on press freedom, societal discrimination and violence against women, sexual abuse of children, and discrimination against homosexuality.
  • There were no reports that the government or its agents committed arbitrary or unlawful killings.
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  • Nonetheless, there were occasional reports of police brutality, corruption, excessive force, discrimination against persons on basis of sexual orientation or gender identity, and allegations of abuse by prison guards.
  • Prison conditions were very poor. Her Majesty's Prison, the country's only prison, was overcrowded, did not have toilet facilities, and slop pails were used in all 122 cells
  • Prisoners and detainees had reasonable access to visitors, were permitted religious observances, and had reasonable access to complaint mechanisms and the ability to request inquiry into conditions.
  • Security forces consist of a police force, the small Antigua and Barbuda Defence Force, and the Office of National Drug Control Policy, which coordinates law enforcement and prosecutorial action to counter narcotics trafficking. The police force had approximately 750 officers.
  • The constitution provides that criminal defendants should receive a fair, open, and public trial, and an independent judiciary generally enforced this right. Trials are by jury. Defendants enjoy a presumption of innocence, have timely access to counsel, may confront or question witnesses, and have the right to appeal. In capital cases only, the government provides legal assistance at public expense to persons without the means to retain a private attorney
  • There were no reports of political prisoners or detainees
  • The constitution provides for freedom of speech and of the press, but the government respected these rights on a somewhat limited basis
  • There were no government restrictions on access to the Internet or reports that government monitored e-mail or Internet chat rooms. Individuals and groups could engage in the peaceful expression of views via the Internet, including by e-mail. There were 75 Internet users per 100 inhabitants, according to Internet World Statistics.
  • The constitution provides citizens with the right to change their government peacefully, and citizens exercised this right in practice through periodic, free, and fair elections held on the basis of universal suffrage.
  • Members of the Organization of American States observer group reported that the elections were generally free and fair.
  • There were two women in the 19-seat House of Representatives and five women appointed to the 17-seat Senate. The governor general, the speaker of the House of Representatives, and the president of the Senate, all appointed positions, were women. There were two women in the cabinet.
  • The Freedom of Information Act gives citizens the statutory right to access official documents from public authorities and agencies, and it created a commissioner to oversee the process. In practice citizens found it difficult to obtain documents, possibly due to government funding constraints rather than obstruction.
  • The constitution prohibits discrimination based on race, sex, creed, language, or social status, and the government generally respected these prohibitions in practice.
  • The Directorate of Gender Affairs, part of the Ministry of Labor, Public Administration, and Empowerment, established and publicized a crisis hotline for victims and witnesses to sexual assault, and managed a sexual assault center that coordinates responses to sexual assault. When rape cases are reported to the police, a female police officer accompanies the victim for both questioning and medical examinations at the center. Once the doctor's report is completed, an investigation commences.
  • n situations where the victim did not know her assailant, the cases rarely came to trial.
  • Violence against women, including spousal abuse, was a problem. The law prohibits and provides penalties for domestic violence, but many women were reluctant to testify against their abusers.
  • Sexual harassment is illegal, but it was rarely prosecuted. According to the Labor Department, there was a high incidence of sexual harassment incurred by employees in both the private and public sectors. However, only approximately 20 cases were formally reported during the year; the small number was believed to result from concerns about retaliation.
  • Women in society enjoy the same rights as men under the law. However, economic conditions in rural areas tended to limit women to home and family, although some women worked as domestics, in agriculture, or in the large tourism sector. Despite these limitations, women were well represented in the private and public sectors. There was no legislation requiring equal pay for equal work, but women faced no restrictions involving ownership of property.
  • Citizenship is acquired by birth in the country, and all children were registered at birth
  • Child abuse remained a problem. The press reported regularly on the rape and sexual abuse of children.
  • Statutory rape is illegal; the minimum age for consensual sex is 14. Despite a maximum penalty of 10 years to life, authorities brought charges against few offenders, and those convicted did not serve long jail terms due to lack of witness cooperation
  • Homosexual acts for both sexes are illegal under indecency statues, and some male homosexual acts are also illegal under anal intercourse laws.
  • Some LGBT persons claimed that homophobia impairs the willingness of HIV-positive persons to obtain treatment; however, there were no reports of violence or discrimination directed toward persons with HIV/AIDS.
  • Workers have the right to associate freely and to form labor unions. Approximately 60 percent of workers in the formal sector belonged to a union. Unions were free to conduct their activities without government interference
  • Labor law prohibits retaliation against strikers, and the government effectively enforced this prohibition.
  • he constitution prohibits forced or compulsory labor, including by children.
  • The law stipulates a minimum working age of 16 years, which corresponds with the provisions of the Education Act. In addition persons under 18 years of age must have a medical clearance to work and may not work later than 10 p.m.
  • The minimum wage was EC$7.00 ($2.59) an hour for all categories of labor, which provided a barely adequate standard of living for a worker and family. In practice the great majority of workers earned substantially more than the minimum wage.
  • The law provides that workers are not required to work more than a 48-hour, six-day workweek, but in practice the standard workweek was 40 hours in five days
  • While not specifically provided for by law, in practice workers could leave a dangerous workplace situation without jeopardy to continued employment.
  • lenaurick on 28 Aug 16
     
    This article is about common issues that countries face, and how Antigua and Barbuda deals with these issues. For the most part, it seemed that Antigua and Barbuda was a relatively developed country with a strong and fair government, rights for children, good working conditions, and unrestricted access to internet. However there were also areas where Antigua and Barbuda needed improvements. For example their prisons are overcrowded, women continue to be victims of sexual assault, and homophobia is acceptable. Overall this article helped me to get a better sense of where Antigua and Barbuda stands on major issues.
horowitzza

Nicaragua's president makes a farce of democracy - The Washington Post - 0 views

www.washingtonpost.com/...6-9767-f6c947fd0cb8_story.html

president democracy dictatorship foreign policy latin america Nicaragua diplomacy

shared by horowitzza on 25 Oct 16 - No Cached
  • where President Daniel Ortega, seeking a third consecutive five-year term in November, has just announced that his wife, Rosario Murillo, is his vice-presidential running mate.
  • Mr. Ortega first ruled Nicaragua for 11 years after the 1979 revolution, until his ouster in the country’s first genuinely democratic election
  • Having regained the presidency in 2006 through a series of corrupt political maneuvers, Mr. Ortega promptly engaged in more chicanery to ensure he would never have to leave office again
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  • In June, the pro-Ortega Supreme Court ousted the opposition’s likely presidential candidate, Eduardo Montealegre, from his own party in favor of a pro-Ortega opponent who had sued for control
  • Mr. Ortega’s allies in the National Assembly expelled 16 lawmakers (and 12 alternates) from Mr. Montealegre’s party who refused to accept the court-imposed new party leader.
  • Nicaragua’s backsliding, after a brief period of relatively transparent politics in the 1990s, has proceeded with nothing but mild verbal opposition from Washington
  • the State Department has also pronounced itself “gravely concerned” by the crushing of the political opposition.
  • horowitzza on 25 Oct 16
     
    President Daniel Ortega is threatening the democracy that has been reasonably sustained over the past couple decades in Nicaragua.
evanpitt14

Wickham says gov'ts will move to legalise ganja only for political gain | Antigua Obser... - 0 views

antiguaobserver.com/-ganga-only-for-political-gain

shared by evanpitt14 on 03 Oct 16 - No Cached
  • decriminalise the use of the popular contraband, marijuana.
  • governments of Caribbean countries will not legislate that personal use of the drug becomes legal, unless they would stand to gain politically.
  • “Ultimately, in politics you would want to win an election and certainly your ability to win an election makes you a lot useful in terms of driving issues. If you believe policy will reward you electorally, then you will pursue and if you believe policy will make you unpopular, then you would not want to pursue it,”
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  • Marijuana Symposium, which was hosted by the University of the West Indies, Cave Hill Campus
  • “Politics of Ganja Decriminalisation”
  • Antigua & Barbuda.
  • not taking the marijuana discussion seriously.
  • “The average person disaggregates the issue and they just see a guy smoking a spliff and say he needs to stop
  • issue of crime when you make something criminal is something that is more academic, more refined.
  • evanpitt14 on 03 Oct 16
     
    This article is about how many people want the legalization of marijuana. The Govts. don't want to, but Wickham thinks that legalizing it would lead to political gain and a lower crime rate involving marijuana.
bennetttony

Nicaragua president's running mate: his wife | Albuquerque Journal - 1 views

www.abqjournal.com/...nts-running-mate-his-wife.html

nicaragua politics president wife

shared by bennetttony on 04 Nov 16 - No Cached
  • “That woman is the one who rules in the country. She is powerful,” said fruit vendor Roberto Mayorga. “If ‘the man’ dies, she’ll be there. She has been his shadow. There is nobody who can keep her from being next.”
  • She is said to run Cabinet meetings and many Nicaraguans credit her for social programs that have helped keep the ruling Sandinista party’s popularity ratings high.
  • And she’s equally reviled by government opponents, who see her presence on the ticket as another step in the 70-year-old Ortega’s push to maintain the couple’s grip on power in a country with a long and uncomfortable history of dynastic families.
  • ...3 more annotations...
  • “The Ortegas really seem to be intent on increasing the family’s control over much of Nicaraguan political, social and economic life …” he added. “And so this would be a way to really guarantee that sho
  • Critics accuse Ortega of blatantly rigging the system despite the fact he would likely win anyway.
  • “And mafia-style, he picks his wife to give her the kind of institutional power that she already had de-facto.”
  • bennetttony on 04 Nov 16
     
    This article shows how one of the candidates in the the presidential election in Nicaragua has his wife as a running mate so that they get what they want in the government.
bennetttony

More Than 70% of Nicaraguans Support Ortega's Re-Election | News | teleSUR English - 1 views

www.telesurtv.net/...e-Election--20161021-0009.html

shared by bennetttony on 04 Nov 16 - No Cached
  • The latest result was released by the pollster M&R Consultores, which also said that 64.8 percent of respondents approve of the Sandinista government, highlighting the social programs, infrastructure, free health care and education, stability and economic growth, among other achievements.
  • bennetttony on 04 Nov 16
     
    This shows that many people continue to support Ortega even though there is evidence of him doing wrong things in the Nicaraguan government.
bennetttony

US Congress Seeks to Expose Corruption in Nicaragua | The DC Dispatches | Law, Policy, ... - 0 views

jasonpoblete.com/...expose-corruption-in-nicaragua

shared by bennetttony on 04 Nov 16 - No Cached
  • On September 21, the House of Representatives approved passage H.R. 5708, the Nicaraguan Investment Conditionality Act (NICA) of 2017 that, if it becomes law, will prohibit loans by international financial institutions (“IFIs”) to the government of Nicaragua unless Nicaragua takes steps to ensure free, fair, and transparent elections as well as strengthen the rule of law.
  • The left-wing Sandinista government is economic and political disaster. Nicaraguan autocrat, Daniel Ortega, and his power-obsessed wife Rosario Murillo, are running for president and vice president in the upcoming November elections. Unless the opposition unites, quickly, the power hungry Ortegas may pull it off. The road to this point is paved with enough human rights abuses and corruption to keep tribunals and courts busy for years.
  • The Nicaraguan people seem to be reaching their limit. When Ortegas sacked the opposition party leadership a few months ago in the mostly puppet Congress, it seems to have lit a spark within the opposition as well as within his own Sandinista party.
  • ...2 more annotations...
  • In addition to the domestic problems, Nicaragua, a staunch ally of Communist Cuba and Venezuela, is causing regional tensions to rise.
  • Corrupt officials, for example, should be denied U.S. visas to visit the United States, something that should extend to immediate family members
  • bennetttony on 04 Nov 16
     
    This article talks about measures that the US is taking to help combat the corruption in Nicaragua (even though the US isn't doing too much).
nick_gauthier

Annual Reports | Managua, Nicaragua - Embassy of the United States - 0 views

nicaragua.usembassy.gov/60419_human_rights_report.html

annual embassy united states nicaragua history politics

shared by nick_gauthier on 05 Nov 16 - No Cached
  • Nicaragua is a multiparty constitutional republic, but in recent years political power has become concentrated in a single party, with an increasingly authoritarian executive branch exercising significant control over the legislative, judicial, and electoral branches. In 2011 the Supreme Electoral Council (CSE) announced the re-election of President Daniel Ortega Saavedra of the Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN) in elections that international and domestic observers characterized as seriously flawed
  • he principal human rights abuses were restrictions on citizens’ right to vote; obstacles to freedom of speech and press, including government intimidation and harassment of journalists and independent media
  • reports the government or its agents committed arbitrary or unlawful killings, many during confrontations with illegal armed groups in the northern part of the country
  • ...2 more annotations...
  • Human rights organizations and independent media alleged some killings during the year were politically motivated.
  • rison conditions continued to deteriorate due to antiquated infrastructure and increasing inmate populations. Many prisoners suffered mistreatment from prison officials and other inmates. Inmates also suffered from parasites, inadequate medical attention, frequent food shortages, contaminated water, and inadequate sanitation
  • nick_gauthier on 05 Nov 16
     
    This is a report on Human Rights Practices for 2015 in Nicaragua. It cites the many ways in which Nicaraguan government is corrupt and that "increasingly authoritarian". It then continues on to highlight the ways in which human rights are violated.
bennetttony

Nicaragua's New Boss, Same as the Old Boss | Americas Quarterly - 1 views

americasquarterly.org/...araguas-new-boss-same-old-boss

nicaragua politics foreign policy

shared by bennetttony on 04 Nov 16 - No Cached
  • “The election is a farce, a mega-fraude is taking place and we cannot legitimize it."
  • In July, he banned 28 deputies of the Independent Liberal Party from running in the elections, including its leading presidential candidate, Eduardo Montealegre
  • In August, Ortega chose his wife, Rosario Murillo, for the vice-presidential ticket. “They have created a dynastic dictatorship …
  • ...1 more annotation...
  • “Recent developments aimed at undermining the political opposition are simply a continuation of Ortega’s ongoing efforts to consolidate his control over all aspects of Nicaraguan political life
  • bennetttony on 04 Nov 16
     
    This article outlines the corruption of one of the candidates in the Nicaraguan presidential campaign.
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